The Twelve Days of Christmas
by AnimalAddictions
Summary: There was Snape, walking down the hall, headed for the duel. Coming from the opposite end were the Death Eaters. And in between them stood Sirius and James. Things couldn't get worse... or so James thought. That was before Lily arrived.
1. Introduction

A/N- I own nothing you recognise, therefore, I own basically nothing. Cheers to all my readers and reviewers, especially x_clare_x, former author of High School, Boys, and Tubs of Chocolate Ice Cream, who this chapter is dedicated to. Love you Clare, you rock!! This is also going to be a fairly quickly writen story (I want to have it done by Christmas), so although I know any mistakes in grammer, punctuation, or spelling are inexcuseable, please forgive any. That said, read on! The best is yet to come!

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"Hello, Lilykinns," a tall boy with untidy black hair and glasses greeted her. Lily was sprawled on a cozy green sofa in the Gryffindor common room, accompanied by her friends Lila McIntosh, who was sitting on the thick carpet and leaning against the couch, and Robbin Port, seated at the armchair near the fire. James perched on the arm of the sofa, and tucked a stray piece of bright red hair behind Lily's left ear, asking interestedly, "what are you listening to?" referring to the soft chorus coming from the radio on the floor.

Lily sighed and reluctantly told him it was the Twelve Days of Christmas, a popular muggle carol, being sung by Mitch Miller. James appeared fascinated by the muggle music, and listened silently and intently until the song was over. When the last note had died down and 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland' began, James still hadn't broken the silence. It was Lily who broke it, saying, "I think that is without doubt the longest you have ever been quiet."

"hmmm…" said James, he seemed to be preoccupied, perhaps with the effort of thinking. Then he stunned them all by getting up from the sofa and walking up to his dormitory. No-one said anything for a moment; the girls were too deep in shock that they had just witnessed James Potter doing two uncharacteristic things: a) coming into contact with Lily without asking her out, and b) sitting silently throughout a perfectly open conversation time.

"Do you think he's ill?" asked Lila hesitantly.

"Do you think maybe he's gotten over you?" wondered Robbin.

There was another long moment of silence, as Jingle Bells played in the background.

"You know," pondered Lila, "When he isn't being his usual self, he isn't too bad."

"Hmmm…" said Lily. She seemed to be lost in thought.

"I think," said Robbin, "James is a changed man."

Lila giggled, "It was only five minutes! Besides, how do you know he doesn't just have an alter-ego twin?" Robbin and Lila collapsed in laughter, but Lily seemed not to have heard a word of what they were saying. Shooting an annoyed look at the other two, she got up and headed to the dormitory.

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A/N- okay, it's a short chapter I know, and I promise the next one will be longer, and will probably be up later tonight. Thanks for reading! If you are of the opinion that this story was worth reading, please take the time to review. I can promice you that it took me a lot longer to write this than it would take you to review this, and therefor it is downright rude to not review a story that someone took the time to provide to you for your pleasure and entertainment. So, that said, if I see any more hits than reviews, I will know that it is truely a cold world out there. So review if you have a heart!


	2. The First Day of Christmas

AN: second chapter up!!! I own nothing you recognise, yada yada yada. This story is dedicated to Mysterious Victoria, who always reviews our stories, and writes great stories of her own, like Emma Potter. Love you, MV!

Hope you all enjoy! Sorry it wasn't up sooner, but my dad was on the computer, so this was the first chance I got to post it.

_**

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****On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree.**_

The sun shone clear and bright on the winter wonderland which was Hogwarts on the first day of the Christmas Holidays. Although only a scant population remained over the nearly month-long break, several of the Gryffindor sixth years: James, Sirius, Lily, and Robbin, had stayed.

Although most people were looking forward to lying-in several hours, James got up at the crack of dawn, careful not to disturb a sleeping Sirius. He tiptoed to the corner of the room, where a miniature faux pine tree stood erect decorated in red berries and several golden orbs. He carefully removed each decoration from the tree, and re-decorated it with a few clever charms he had invented himself. First, he created a garland of several sparkling, luminous pears and strung it on the tree, and added a partridge ornament to one of the branches. As he stood back to admire his handiwork, he was especially mystified by the tiny, perfect, shiny partridge he had created. It was a bit like a chicken, or a pheasant, he couldn't tell which, but he was proud of himself for crafting such a bird without having ever actually seen a live one.

Sirius stirred in his bed, and mumbled something which sounded an awfully lot like 'come on, baby, just pull that little string…' before he began slobbering all over his pillow and sighing in contentment. James had no desire to learn who he was dreaming about or what, although he had the slight suspicion of Carmella Right, a seventh-year Hufflepuff brunette.

Thinking that Sirius was likely to wake up soon, James decided to carry out the last operation to his plan. After balancing the tree warily on the back of his broomstick, he unlatched the window and took off, in search of Lily's window. An icy blast greeted him as he pushed himself out into the early morning sunlight, but he persisted, and soon found the very window he had been searching for. He magiked the latch open, then slid agilely into the warm room, which smelled faintly of honey. He was relieved to find that the girls were still asleep on their red and gold beds. He sneaked over to the end of Lily's bed, and there he placed the tree, his greatest work of magical art. After blowing a kiss to Lily, which she obviously couldn't see, he flew back to his dormitory.

Lily woke up late, at about ten, and the first thing she noticed was that Robbin was still fast asleep. This did not surprise her, Robbin had always liked to sleep as late as possible, unlike Lily, who was disturbed by the late hour. The second thing she noticed did surprise her, unlike the slumbering Robbin. In the darkness of the dormitory she could see several golden lights glistening at the foot of her bed. She waved her wand at the torches, which sprang to life to instantly illuminate the room. What she saw astonished her. A small tree was positioned there, strung with pear-shaped lights and complete with a small bird ornament, which was a pheasant, no, on closer inspection, she couldn't tell quite what it was, so she summoned an encyclopedia and found it to be a partridge.

Lily gazed transfixed at the charming tree until she heard the sounds of Robbin stirring. "Robbin, look at this!"

Robbin groggily crawled out of bed and toddled over to the little tree. "Aww," she said, "That's a cute little tree, Lily, where'd you buy it? I want one… it's a perfect model of the first day of Christmas."

"I didn't buy it," explained a confused Lily, "When I got up it was here."

"Hmmm…" said Robbin, "I bet I know who sent it to you!"

"Who?" asked Lily.

"Your true love," explained Robbin as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If you're referring to James-"

"I never said I was," interrupted Robbin, "I just said whoever it was obviously thinks themselves to be your true love. They must be awfully clever, coming up with something like this. I wish it'd happen to me."

"If if was James, you can have him," Said Lily, "but I actually doubt it. Something this creative couldn't have come from him. Maybe I'll just sit back and wait for the events to unfold."

Robbin raised her eyebrows.

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A/N- sooo... did you like it? Lil' bit of a cliffie there, but don't worry, all will be made clear soon.

If you loved it, review. If you hated it, review. If you were somewhere in between those two, REVIEW! Because I love all my reviewers: emma dov, Harriet Fields, Twilight 4Evr/ gotta luv Jasper, mysterious victoria, and TayliaNinja, you rock! You guys have the biggest hearts in the world for reviewing! :) Seeing five reviews almost made me cry with joy! However, to the 86 of you who read but did not review, FOR SHAME!!

3 LU

PS~ REVIEW! (thanks)


	3. The Second Day of Christmas

A/N- I didn't write the song, or the Harry Potter books, I didn't come up with any characters excluding Robbin and Lila. I don't own anything else you might recognize.

This chapter is dedicated to Twilight 4Evr/ Gotta luv Jasper, for her great reviews and agreeing with me on my reviewing policy. I like Jasper, too, but they all are smokin' hot! :D

I originally wanted this story to be done by Christmas, seeing as it is a Christmas story, but that is really rushing things. I want to have well written chapters that keep my readers interests and that might be hard to do if I'm rushing. Tell me in your reviews if you would hate me terribly if I did not get this story completed by Christmas.

Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys are the bomb: emma dov (for her enthusiasm), Harriet Fields (for her curiosity), Twilight 4Evr/ Gotta luv Jasper (for the previous reasons stated), mysterious Victoria (for her awesome writing, and attentiveness to detail in every story that she reads, and for being a great Fanfiction friend!), TayliaNinja (for her great writing skills, I recommend her! And for her interest in my story), b3lla (for her constructive criticism), and Merino649 (for her encouragement).

Okay, I know that was a l-o-n-g authors note, I've been known to ramble, so, without further adu, here's the third chapter.

_**On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

Lily was exhausted that night, but couldn't get to sleep. She couldn't help but wonder who it was that had sent her that tree. She had come to the conclusion that it couldn't possibly be James for three reasons:

Whoever this was was probably a shy and subtle secret admirer. James was neither shy nor subtle, and certainly wasn't a secretive sort of person. Lily knew that better than anyone.

Whoever this was must be thoughtful and creative, another two qualities James didn't possess, after all, he had asked Lily out practically the same way for several years.

And whoever this was knew _exactly_ how to reel Lily in. Though she hated to admit it, Lily knew she was curious about this whole ordeal and the ones responsible. Therefore, it could not possibly be James.

Or so Lily thought. She was too blinded by logic to see who it actually was.

0o0

Back in the empty boys dormitory (Sirius was sleeping somewhere else, most likely a broom cupboard) James was lying awake, just like Lily. He, however, was wondering if Lily had fallen asleep yet, so he could perform operation turtle doves.

At 3am a very drowsy James decided it was finally safe. He picked up his handcrafted ornament, grasping it rather gingerly, for he was rather proud of his invention. It was a stained glass heart outlined by two turtle doves, (if you looked closely, you could see that one had emerald eyes), surrounding the words: I love you. He hoped Lily would like it, he was anxious that it might be too sappy, but it was too late to go back now. Opening the clasp of the window, he flew out into the night air, and planted it just as he had the tree the night before.

0o0

Lily woke up the next morning and went straight to her tree. There was only one alteration: on one of the higher branches of the tree hung a beautiful stained glass heart. Closer inspection showed two turtle doves, tail to tail and bill to bill, were imprinted in the glass, outlining the inscription "I love you."

The ornament was so beautiful, it's message so pure, Lily had to wipe a few tears from her eyes. When Robbin saw the exquisite ornament, she was speechless, for a moment. "Wow," she praised, "Whoever is doing this has great taste and is _so_ romantic. I wish Remus would do something like this for me, but of course, he's off on vacation…"

Lily gave Robbin an apologetic look and turned her back to the tree to get ready for the day. She was dying to find out who her secret admirer was, yet one part of her didn't want to know. In the end, the curious portion of her mind won out, and she decided to keep an eye out for people acting out of the ordinary around her today.

On her way down to breakfast, James was walking ahead of her, but he didn't say anything. This, she thought, was definitely a weird but wonderful change. Maybe, just as Robbin had suggested, he was over her. This disturbed Lily, but what bothered her even more than that was the fact that she wasn't happy about it. Lily shook her head a little, sure that she was ailing. Before she could dwell on this very long, though, Severus caught up to her and engaged her in conversation about the Christmas Eve Hogsmeade trip, and she momentarily forgot all about James.

A/N- Reviews, reviews, reviews please! I will love you all for life. I would promise muffins or doughnuts or cookies to reviewers, but I would probably eat them all myself first. It's the thought that counts though, right?

Please remember to tell me in your reviews if you would hate me awfully if I didn't finish this by Christmas.

Love to all who've read thus far, LU


	4. The Third Day of Christmas

A/N- I own nothing, I own nothing…

This chapter is dedicated to Merino649, for her enthusiasm, encouragement, and motivation. Love yah, Merino649… can I call you Rino? :)

Thanks to all my fabulous reviewers. Air kisses to all of you: Merino649, kt130, mysterious Victoria, Twilight 4Evr/ Gotta luv Jasper, b3lla, TayliaNinja, Harriet Fields, and Emma dov.

I tried to make this chapter longer and more interesting, so tell me what you think!

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**_On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me: three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree._**

It was later that same day, and Lily and Robbin were walking around the beautiful frozen lake. Others were skating, building snowizards, and sledding. The giant squid had gone into hibernation under the icy lake, but you could still feel his snores shake the ground every so often. Lily was just commenting on one of the more prominent tremors when a snowball came whizzing out of no-where, smacking her green stocking cap and sending slushy debris flying into Robbin's hair. Lily spun on the spot, looking to jinx the pitcher, but couldn't locate the source. Then, from behind a tree whizzed a second snowball, hitting a little blonde second-year in the ear. "Oops," called James, ducking out from behind the tree.

"You!" Lily hurled a snowball at him, knocking his glasses askew. James laughed and pelted another snowball. Before they knew it, snowballs were flying everywhere. Sirius had appeared out of no-where, flinging balls of icy mush at everyone. Severus seemed intent on smacking James in the face with a rock filled one, but James got to him first, coming up behind him and shoving quite a bit of slush down his back while Sirius distracted him. Lily accidentally laughed with everyone else for a while, stopping mid-giggle when she remembered she was supposed to side with Severus.

The battle raged on for over an hour, everyone's spirits remained high until the sun began to set, dropping the temperature drastically. It was only then that the grounds trooped into the great hall, red nosed and chilly, eager for some hot steak and kidney pie. Lily was so intent on getting to her hot chocolate, she didn't notice who sat down next to her until a voice said in her ear, "Enjoy the snowball fight, Lils?"

"Oh!" gasped Lily, "I can't believe you- ahhchooo!" she sneezed abruptly. She then proceeded to sneeze several more times.

"Bless you," James said, "maybe you should head to the hospital wing, get that checked out. Madam Pomfrey makes some strong pepperup potion that cures colds in a jiffy."

"Maybe you should," chimed in Robbin.

"I'll take you up after dinner," offered James.

"You would, thanks!" agreed Robin before Lily could say anything. Lily glared at them, not pleased by the double teaming.

"Oh all right," she grumpily agreed.

James grinned.

0o0

James walked Lily up the hospital wing as promised. "You know, this is strictly unnecessary!" complained Lily as they walked up the steps, but she sneezed again, rather ruining her rant. James gave her a doubtful look.

"There you are Lily," said Severus, stepping out from behind a suite of armor at the head of the staircase, "off to have a good snog with Potter?"

"Sev," began Lily, but James interjected.

"Leave Lily alone, Snivellous," James defended.

"Or what?" he asked sarcastically, "gunna beat my ass are you?"

"Yes," agreed James, "That sounds like a good idea."

"I'd like to see you try," challenged Severus, as his hand clenched on his wand. James stood in utter ease.

"I'll prove it to you any time you'd like, with both hands tied behind my back. But there are ladies present, so I suggest you get out of our way," suggested James, "why don't you go wash your hair, slimeball."

Severus gave them both a murderous stare, then walked away, "You havn't seen the last of me, Potter!"

"Oooh," said James sarcasticly.

"Why are you so mean to him?" asked Lily reproachfully, but still she walked with him.

James gave her an incredulous look, "he offended you first, I defended you! But I'll say I'm sorry if you'll forgive me."

"You're hopeless," said Lily, as they entered the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey shooed James away as she ushered Lily in. James walked back to the common room, ready to get to work on the three French hens. This, he determined, was his best idea yet.

0o0

Lily woke up late again the next morning. Her throat was burning, she wished she was home right now so her mom could make her some fruit juice and soup; she fumbled on her nightstand for a pitcher of water. What her hand met was not water, however, and she sat up in confusion.

On her bedside table was a bowl- shaped like a hen. Holding soup. Hot chicken noodle soup. It didn't make sense.

Then her mind seemed to go on fast forward, and she remembered that the third gift of Christmas were three French hens. Sure enough, the other two were hanging on the tree. Lily was more interested in the savory smelling chicken noodle soup though, and tasted a spoonful. It was delicious. Soon she had gobbled down the whole bowl, and felt much better for it. After rinsing out the bowl, she set it under her Christmas tree with her other gifts from her secret admirer, and looked at the lot fondly for a few moments. She was still intrigued by the whole ordeal, but wasn't bothered at the moment. Since there was no need to go down to breakfast now, she settled back into bed, and drifted off at once. She couldn't wait to see tomorrows gifts.

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A/N- What did you think? I tried to make this chapter a little more interesting, and I hope you liked the change. Tell me in your reviews!

This story has 295 hits and only 12 reviews, come on, people, review! I know twelve is a festive number, but I like thirteen, fourteen, and fifty-two just as much! :) To the twelve review writers, thank you, reviews make the world go round! You rock!

~LU


	5. The Fourth Day of Christmas

A/N- I am not bright enough to own the song or the characters, so alas, I am only responsible for the plot.

This chapter is dedicated to Harriet Fields, for her enthusiasm, encouragement, and commitment to this story, thanks, Harriet! It's people like you that make a difference in the lives of characters! 

A big thanks to all of my reviewers: Harriet Fields, Twilight 4Evr/ Gotta luv Jasper, HermioneGranger1971, mysterious Victoria, Merino649, and kt130.

So here's the fifth chapter… sigh… tell me what you think.

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_**On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

Lily slept for the remainder of the day and most of the night. When she woke up at 2am, she felt back to normal. Either the delicious chicken soup or the pepperup potion must have done the trick, Lily was betting on the soup. Her secret admirer, she thought to herself, was a lifesaver. Glancing at the clock, she wondered if whoever he was had come. She looked at her tree for any changes, but what she was searching for was sitting under the tree.

It was a box, wooden, painted green, with boughs of holly adorning the lid. She lifted the top; curious to what would be inside, and how it could apply to four calling birds. With the very opening of the lid there was a surprise, for the inside of the lid itself was a mirror, reflecting four bright, jolly red cardinals, on a snowy pedestal. One cardinal was spreading its wings, its beak open wide as if in song. Another was standing on one foot, as if hopping from the porcelain twig it was positioned on, with its mouth open in song as well. The other two were grouped around, bills open wide in praise. They were all porcelain, even the glittery snow they were sitting on, and it was a beautiful sight set against the green background. Robbin was right, Lily mused, this boy did have good taste.

On the plain green bottom of the box, there was a note Lily hadn't noticed before. It was written in vaguely familiar handwriting and said, "Lift the floor, for it will become the top; just as you have lifted me up from my meaningless life, and brought significance to my days, whenever I see you, it's like I'm at the top of the world."

The note brought a tear to Lily's eye, it was so sweet. She was sure now that this was not a joke, for only someone that really loved her could write something so pure, and she knew that. She wished she could fathom who sent it.

But there were more pressing matters at hand. She didn't see any handles at all, and she couldn't figure out how she was supposed to open the box. She flipped it over and examined it from the bottom. It looked as if even if she could open it, there would only be the bottom of the box anyway. She was baffled, but too curious to give up. She flipped the box right side up again and gently knocked on the floor's wood. It sounded hollow, yet there was absolutely no space between the bottom of the box and the floor of the inside. She sat the box down and stared at it.

After quite a few minutes of staring, she determined that the only way to lift the base was to pull on the dais; after all, it was the only object possible to grasp. Gently, she pulled on the little bird which was spreading its wings, afraid every second that she might break the delicate fowl, but it must have been sturdier than it appeared, for it did not split from the base, it simply lifted the whole floor out of the box with it.

Lily set the floor, which was now the top, onto the gold carpet beside her and peered into the box. She couldn't believe her eyes. The floor was at least another foot deep, and stacked with little drawers and shelves, green, lined with red velvet. It had been magically expanded, and Lily realized that this was not a mere decoration, it was a jewelry box! Eager to explore all the nooks and crannies, Lily pulled out one drawer and found folds of velvet to hold rings. There was a note there as well, and it said: "to hold tomorrow's gift." Lily couldn't believe it, that something this romantic and clever had been given to her.

She eagerly explored the rest of the box: there were hooks on each side for necklaces, little drawers with velvet lined boxes for pins, earrings, and bracelets. Lily now understood the purpose of the mirror. She was mystified by the little box, it kept surprising her, but when she was sure all its little astonishments were over, she replaced the lid with the cardinal pedestal, and it became the floor. Lily was still gazing fondly at the box when she noticed a little silver handle on the right side of the box. She carefully turned it, and the box astonished her once more. The little birds began to revolve, and sing a high, tinkling, beautiful melody, which Lily recognized as the twelve days of Christmas.

It was so beautiful, such a thoughtful gift, Lily yearned for whoever had sent it. _If it were possible to be in love with someone and not know who,_ thought Lily_, I would be _so_ there. _

0o0

James went down to breakfast the next morning, wondering if Lily was well yet. He had decided that if she was not present, he would visit her right after breakfast, with perhaps some blueberry muffins which he knew by stalking- er- knowing her well- were her favorite breakfast food. However, his fantasies about visiting a sick Lily in bed and nursing her back to health were blown away when he saw Lily and Robbin sitting across from Sirius at the breakfast table. He wondered what had brought on that change. Then he noticed that Lily was sitting next to Snape, who was in furious discussion with Padfoot. This can't be good, James thought as he sat down next to Sirius and across from Lily. He gave her a wink, which she pretended not to see as she looked away to talk to Robbin about the weather. Robbin looked rather confused as she replied to Lily that it was not sunny, that there was a spectacular blizzard outside. James smirked, then averted his attention to Sirius and Snivellous.

"There you are, James," said Severus in mock-politeness, "I was just inviting you and Sirius over for a little duel tonight."

James raised his eyebrows, but his eyes were excited under his glasses, "of course I'm in, I did promise you a fight, didn't I. Sirius is my second, who's yours?"

"Dolohov," replied Severus after scrutinizing the Slytherin table, "but I don't need one, seeing as I'll be the one doing the killing, not being killed."

"It's too bad that your last words are false, Snivellous," said Sirius, even though James had no intent on killing Severus or being killed, but if it came to that…

"We'll see about that," replied Severus, "I wouldn't place any bets, though. Meet us next to that statue of Gregory the Smarmy, there's a secret passage there, where none of the teachers will be able to find your bodies."

"We'll see you there," replied James, "We found that room in first year, so there will be no reason to meet us outside. I look forward to seeing you in a dark passageway."

"Let the duels begin, then, at one o'clock am. Don't be late," Severus said.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss a chance to beat your ass so hard, your mother will be feeling it!"

"Until then, Potter, I'll be sure and warn your father of your death."

"Don't bother, send your last letter to your own mother," countered Sirius.

"I wouldn't be talking, seeing as your mother has abandoned you, blood traitor," Snape smirked, "ta-ta."

He got to his feet and strode away. Lily looked at the two boys in shock, "you aren't really going to duel him, are you?"

"Hell yes!" said Sirius, James grinned in anticipation.

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A/N- hahaha! CLIFFIE! Review if you want the next chapter up today!


	6. The Fifth Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own anything someone else thought of first. :)

This chapter is dedicated to HermioneGranger1971 for her encouragement, and for using the term "bloody brilliant" :D

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_**On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

James and Sirius tiptoed down the staircase of the boy's dormitory. James had already planted the gift, he hoped Lily would like it. He hadn't gotten her five golden rings, he had only gotten her one; but it had five coils, and five emeralds set into it, so that had to count for something. He had hidden it rather cleverly in an ornament, he liked that idea, he hoped she would appreciate it as well; however, he now had more pressing matters at hand: the duel with Snape. It was 12:30, and it was time to _move. _They had planned to be out of the common room by half passed, but Sirius hadn't woken up properly: he had been having one of _those _dreams again. James had had to pour the pitcher of water over Sirius' head and yell before he had woken up. Now they were running late, but it just made a little more risk, which for them was part of the fun.

They swept the invisibility cloak over them before exiting the portrait hole, and Sirius observed the Marauders' map closely to make sure there wasn't any trouble headed their way. He could see Snape and Dolohov heading down to the chamber. "They're ahead of us, our plan won't work!"

Their plan had been to get there first and ambush them. "We could take off the cloaks and run, if we use the secret passage between Solomon the Slob and Frampton the Fat we could still make it. Do you see anyone on the map?"

"Nope," answered Sirius, "Ogg is near the prefects bathrooms on the sixth floor and Peeves is in the astronomy tower, we shouldn't see either."

"It doesn't matter if we see them, it matters if they see us," said James, yanking off the invisibility cloak and handing it to Sirius. "Let's go!"

So the two tore through the hallways, eager to get to the room first. They were rounding the last corner when they saw a figure at the opposite end of the corridor. The two boys ducked behind a suite of armor, not sure if the person had seen them. Sirius pulled out the map and strained to read it in the dim light. He had just made out who it was and was about to tell James when something else caught his eye. There were several Slytherin sixth and seventh years coming down the opposite hallway. If the two kept going the same direction, they were going to meet... here.

"Prongs, we've got to move!" whispered Sirius. "That's Severus, but-"

James made to jump out from behind the suite of armor, but Sirius stopped him, "He's brought company, and not just Dolohov, look at the map!"

James snatched the map and squinted at it. Sure enough, there was Snape, walking down one end of the corridor slowly, heading for the duel. Down the other end were a band of several Slytherins. And smack dab in the middle were Sirius and James. And then James spotted another problem, as if things could get any worse… Lily was heading toward them, coming from the corridor that they had just escaped.

0o0

Lily had been fretting about the fight between Severus and James all day. And what astonished her was that she was worried for James, not Severus. The hell with Severus, he had called her a mudblood one too many times.

So she had set her alarm clock for 12:45am, and was making her way down to the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. She was confident that she would be able to break up the fight. She was almost there, turning the corner purposefully, when a hand reached out from the shadows and snatched her behind a suite of armor. She tried to scream, but a hand was covering her mouth, someone was clutching her to them.

"Evans, shh, you have to be quiet!" Lily heard James' voice and instantly relaxed. Why was she relaxing? She should be jinxing him for daring to seize her like this against her will! Ah, but it felt so good… "Why are you here?" he asked, his voice a low whisper.

"A question I might like to ask you," said the steely voice of Travers. The hall was suddenly illuminated by wandlight. Sirius, Lily, and James could immediately tell that they were in danger. There were at least ten Slytherins, not including Severus; they were sorely outnumbered.

"What do you want?" Sirius sneered.

"We've come to do the job Snape here was sent to do: kill you" said a hooded Slytherin.

"Oh, I'm so scared," said James sarcastically, "If Snivellous here couldn't do it, what makes you think you _kids-" _he emphisised the words, "can outwit the marauderers?"

"And Lily," added Lily.

"Cheek, Potter," corrected Dolohov, "There are ladies present. We were sent by the Dark Lord to slay you. I suppose we shall have to kill Evans and Black now, too."

"If you so much as cut her, I'll crusciate you so much, the fires of hell will feel like a blessing after I finally slaughter you!" threatened James, Lily was in shock. Death Eaters? In Hogwarts? There had been rumors, but… this couldn't be happening.

"Ooooh," said Travers, "She'll be the first to go, then. It's a pity, Snape here would have liked to do her first, and I wouldn't say no to a hunk of that either. Ah, well. Dead bodies work just as well."

Lily was terrified, not to mention disgusted, she raised her wand to defend herself.

"NO!" said two voices at once. Both Severus and James had flung themselves at Travers, knocking him to the ground. Everyone watched in shock as, together, they brought him down. Suddenly there was a voice in Lily's ear. Sirius whispered, "Run, now, me and James will follow!"

"I'm not leaving you guys! They were serious about murdering you!"

"Just go! We'll be right behind you." Sirius swept the invisibility cloak over her. "Meet us in the room of requirement. It's on the third floor in front of the painting with the trolls in the meadow! Go!"

Lily couldn't argue, she took off. But now that she was invisible, she only went a few yards before halting and drawing her wand once more, ready to hurl curses at the death eaters. She watched in silence as James and Severus got up from the unconscious Travers and began cursing each other. Lily wasn't sure who to shield, she figured they could manage on their own, so she averted her attention to Sirius. He was having a hard time fending off the remaining eight, though he was dueling miraculously. The invisible Lily fired curse after curse, stunning three and disarming one, making the job easier for Sirius. James seemed to have knocked out Sev, so he was joining the fray as well. Then the shortest death eater disarmed Sirius, and he dived for his wand, and the death eater took advantage of that moment to slice Sirius' arm. Blood spurted everywhere. He howled in pain, grabbed his wand, and stunned the death eater. But now it was a fair fight, and with Sirius' bleeding arm, they were losing. Severus was back in the fray.

Then Severus did something to James, he yelled "Sectumsempra!" and the next thing Lily knew, James was bleeding all over the place, gushing blood.

"Let's get the hell outta here before someone gets hurt!" bellowed Sirius. It was a little too late for that, thought Lily, before someone gets killed maybe.

Lily lifted the invisibility cloak, "under here!" she yelled.

Severus and the remaining two death eaters were firing curses, but Sirius managed to hold them off while James got under the cloak. He was barely conscious.

"Go, just go!" yelled Sirius. "I'll be there in 20 minutes!"

"We can't leave him!" yelped James, but two death eaters were still trying to curse the invisible Lily and James.

"Yes we can, Sirius is strong, he'll be fine!" and Lily dragged James along, and they half ran, half fell to the Room of Requirement.

0o0

Lily tried to heal James' wounds, but it just wouldn't work. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, and Lily thought it best to get him to the hospital wing. She magiked a stretcher from thin air, and helped James onto it. Then she levitated him to the hospital wing.

Lily wasn't sure what to tell Madam Pomfrey, but she didn't ask many questions. When she saw him she shooed Lily away, and got to work immediately. Lily dashed back to the room of requirement, and she met Sirius there halfway.

"Where's James?" he asked breathlessly.

"Hospital wing," said Lily.

"I think I'll head there myself," said Sirius. He looked like he could use it, too. His bicep was cut open and bleeding freely, and he had a black eye. His middle finger also appeared broken. "just head back to the common room, but be careful. They're still out there."

"I will be," promised Lily, and she headed back to the dormitory.

0o0

It wasn't till she woke up the next morning that she remembered the gift. She looked to her tree expectantly, but only saw one addition: hanging on one of the lowest branches was a fat little Santa Clause. Lily wondered what on earth that had to do with the five golden rings, or even the Twelve Days of Christmas. She felt dejected, as if her secret admirer had let her down. That was silly; she thought to herself, most girls didn't get anything like this. But she couldn't help but feel as if everything had gone wrong. On the verge of tears, she prepared to start her day. She thought about visiting James in the hospital wing, but descided against it. It was, after all, Lily thought angrily, all James bloody Potter's fault that he was in the hospital wing to begin with!

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A/N- don't hate me for that last bit, I have my reasons…

This was my longest chapter yet! xD Woo-hoo! Hope you all liked it, tell me what you thought in your reviews!!!

Thanks to the two of you who have reviewed the last chapter, Venus, goddess of love; and feeling5. I was tempted not to post this chapter because there weren't very many reviews, but I am forgiving, and so I assumed you all had problems with your computers. :D I like to see the best in people… :)

So there it was, the sixth chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all who've read this story, and more love to those who review. (Just press that little button, come on!! If you don't press that button it means you're pushing mine! lol!)

~LU


	7. The Sixth Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own anything you recognize.

I woke up at 5:30am to type this, so I hope you all enjoy it and review! I'm still trying to get it done by Christmas!

This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Christy, who died a few days ago. She was sweet, and I loved her. It is also very sad that I can't dedicate this chapter to a specific reader, because I only got one review on the last chapter so far, and Rino has already had a chapter dedicated to her. I don't like to duplicate chapter dedications.

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_**On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

The fight the night before was already becoming the stuff of a Hogwarts legend. How three heroic Gryffindors had outsmarted ten Slytherins and all escaped alive remained a mystery to most. Of course, the teachers and headmaster demanded to know the truth at once, and all the students had been gathered together and questioned. At the end they determined that there wasn't enough evidence to suggest that it had been any more than a normal struggle between the Marauders and the Slytherins, so James, Sirius, Severus, and a few of the other Slytherins who bore signs that proved their part in the brawl were given detentions for a month. Somehow, by James quick thinking and talking, Lily had evaded any punishment at all.

James was still in the hospital wing that night. Although he could see Madam Pomfrey's reasons for keeping him there until tomorrow night, as her plans were, he had important business to attend to. The nurse had let Sirius go, so James summoned him down to the wing using their two-way mirrors.

"Hey, mate," greeted Sirius. Madam Pomfrey gave him a disapproving look for his boisterous behavior.

"Hi, Padfoot," said James, "I need a favor…"

"That's what friends are for! What do you want me to do?"

"Well, you see, I didn't tell you about this before, but I overheard Lily listening to this song one day- the Twelve Days of Christmas- and I guess it kind of… inspired me to give all these gifts to her, so, you know, maybe she'll think I'm her true love. I don't know if it will work, I'm sending the gifts anonymously, but if I'm in the hospital wing, I can't send her a gift at all! So would you do it for me?"

"I suppose," agreed Sirius, "wouldn't be the first girls dormitory I've snuck into at night… I remember it was around Easter last year and I snuck into…. Well, you probably don't want to know the whole story, but it sure was fun."

"Keep that to yourself," advised James, "Here, this is the sixth gift," he said, dropping a glittering bracelet into Sirius' palm. It was a gold chain with six green oval beads, or eggs, hanging off it, with a gold goose imprinted on each one. Between the green beads were red, heart shaped ones. Sirius thought he might take a leaf out of James book and give Carmella something similar for Christmas, but without the geese. "Just leave it under the tree for her, thanks mate!"

"Anytime," said Sirius, as Madam Pomfrey shooed him out the door, "See you!"

James was left with nothing to think of except for all the things that could go wrong with the decision he had just made. He suppressed a shudder.

0o0

It was twelve-forty when Sirius set off for Lily's dorm room. He did so on foot, looking forward to the experience. It was one of the few dorms he had not been in before, and he was quite looking forward to it, though he promised he'd be a good boy tonight, for James' sake. Both Lily and Robbin were sound asleep when he entered, this is too easy, he thought to himself. He laid the bracelet under the tree and turned to leave, just as an alarm went off. He froze. Lily turned over, not noticing Sirius, and cursed her alarm clock for going off, cursed herself for not shutting it off from the night before, and cursed the alarm clock once more before shutting it off and flipping over in bed. That's when she saw Sirius. Sirius gulped.

"What the hell are you doing in my dormitory?" asked Lily. Clearly, she had the wrong impression that he was here to… well… be Sirius.

"It isn't what you think, Lily, just calm down," soothed Sirius.

"Then what is it?" she asked, not calming down.

"Well, umm… what it is… is really none of your concern," he said.

"You're in my room, at 12:45 at night. That's none of my concern?"

"Well…" Sirius was having a hard time coming up with a story. His eyes darted to the tree, a movement that Lily didn't miss. Comprehension dawned on her face.

"Your… you… IS THIS A BLOODY JOKE?" Lily was screaming, "DO YOU KNOW HOW SIRIOUSLY I TOOK THOSE STUPID, IDIOTIC, BLOODY GIFTS?! AND IT WAS _YOU?_ I cannot believe this!"

"No, really Lily, I could never come up with all that. I'm just delivering this one for someone… really!"

"Whatever, Black. Get out of my room!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Sirius sarcastically, but he obeyed, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

Lily collapsed on her bed and began to cry. It had all been a joke. A cruel, pointless joke.

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A/N- a short chapter I know, but a lot of you seemed to think that Lily was completely oblivious. Well, now we took care of that problem, now she has the wrong impression. Stupid bloody alarm clock!

Review if you hated it, review if you loved it, review if you're somewhere in-between! And thanks to Rino, :) who is the only one who reviewed the last chapter. )`:

Whoever posts the longest review will get the next chapter dedicated to them, unless you've already had one dedicated to you. It's still nice if you review, though, even if I can't dedicate a chapter to you again!

Love!Love!Love!

~LU xD


	8. The Seventh Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own

Anything that is known

To you or your friend.

Please review at the end!

(Woot woot!!! I wrote a poem!!! As an author's note! Holy Swiss cheeses sometimes I amaze myself! (yikes I'm hyper I've been drinking vault) xD hehe. You can take it if you want, I only ask that you give credit to LU of Animal Addictions if you do.)

I recommend you do not read the rest of the Author's note if you do not appreciate life stories and/or random gibbering.

This story is dedicated to my loving goats and cattle. I was feeding my beautiful animals last night (yea it was like below zero out there and I'm out on the farm, trying to do chores…), and the ground was rather slippery. I was carrying grain in one hand and a full two gallon bucket of water in the other, and I am walking down our little hill and WHAM I slip and fall- on my tush- and water goes flying everywhere, grain as well. I was not happy. I was sopping wet and cold. Just thought you all might enjoy that little experience of mine! Ok, randomness time is over, now it's story time. Read and Review! You could get the next chapter dedicated to you!

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_**On the Seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Seven swans a-swimming, six geese a laying, five golden rings, four calling birds three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

Lily had not been in a good mood all day. Sirius had tried to explain multiple times, never having any success. He had finally given up when Lily got angry and jinxed his teeth black. He was now ruffling through many books in the library, trying to find the counterjinx. Lily was satisfied that she had managed to find a way to keep his big fat mouth shut, because he wouldn't want to ruin his looks to open it. It looked as if he would never talk to her again, and she wasn't complaining.

It was with a heavy heart and shut mouth that Sirius trooped up to the hospital wing to notify James. When he got there, James greeted him jubilantly, which made Sirius feel even worse.

"Hey, Padfoot," said James. It was obvious his spirits were high, "Guess what? Madam Pomfrey says I can get out of here at six tonight!"

"That's great, Prongs!" said Sirius, smacking him a high five. Good, he wouldn't have to deal with Lily tonight, and he could have his nights back to normal. Carmella had been missing him. "James, I have something to tell you?"

"What?" asked James, "did you break something?"

"No," said Sirius, barely opening his lips, "Why would I break something?"

"Well, besides your frequent breaking of hearts," James said, "Do you remember in fifth year? That table in the lounge? We spent all night trying to fix that. And last year? You tripped and broke the vase I was going to send to my Mom? Luckily Remus and I were able to fix both, but…"

"Well, both of those times I was drunk!" said Sirius, "or hung over, so really it wasn't my fault."

"It was a laugh anyway," said James, "So what is it you were going to tell me?"

"Well," began Sirius, anxious once more, "I did just what you told me to, honest, mate! But I was right there and Lily woke up…"

"She saw you?!"

"Yes," said Sirius, hanging his head, "But it's not all bad, she thinks that I did it, and I can guarantee she doesn't like me. I tried to convince her it wasn't me, but she jinxed me! Look at my ruined teeth!"

James didn't look amused, "After all the Marauder pranks you've pulled, you couldn't handle this simple operation?"

"No," said Sirius, hanging his head, "You're going to have to tell her, mate. Maybe she'll believe you."

"I doubt it," said James, "I'll probably come back looking worse than you. But I'll have to, now. I'll just have to wait for the opportune moment…"

0o0

Lily was still moody when Severus met up with her as they were coming back from dinner. Robbin was off in the lavatory, so Lily and Severus were alone.

"Hey, Lily," said Severus.

"I'm not talking to you," said Lily.

"It appears you just did," assessed Severus, a smile twitching at his lips. Lily glared at him.

"What have you come to complain about this time to me?"

"Actually, I was going to ask forgiveness," said Severus, "For my friends, I mean. I didn't hurt you, after all, I defended you."

"Is that what you think?" asked Lily, temper flaring, "Well, I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you, Severus. And you still call those people your friends after what they did?"

"We were just having a bit of fun…" said Severus, "We just got a little carried away. Why are you always hanging out with that Potter now?"

"At least my friends aren't death eaters!" yelled Lily.

"Yeah, but you'd like to get cozy in a broom cupboard with your 'friends' wouldn't you? Are you and Potter secretly dating or something?"

"No, we are not!" Lily fumed, "what's up with you and James, anyway?"

"He wants you, Lily!" said Severus, "He thinks it should be so easy to get you, like you're a hunk of meat on a shelf he can just pick up! Stupid Potter, with his glory and his Quidditch… he's so pathetic, with his perfect marks, teacher's pet Potter, head boy…"

"Hey! I'm head girl!"

"You deserve it! Potters just a jerk that thinks he can get away with whatever he wants!"

"He's not unlike yourself!" yelled Lily, by this time they were at the arch by which they would split to go to their separate dormitories, "goodbye, Severus!"

"Wait," Severus' hand shot out and grasped Lily at her hand and around her waist, not unlike James had before. He roughly pulled her into him and kissed her with so much force her lips hurt. She attempted to push away, but he wouldn't let her. Lily could hear voices in the hall, heard someone turn the corner, and stop, then turn and walk away. Someone had seen her kissing Severus. Finally, she managed to push him away. He was panting. Lily gave him the most disgusted look she could muster, then ran off, leaving Severus standing there.

0o0

Lily was so tired when she got to the common room, so angry with her life, that she just went to her bed and cried herself to sleep. In the morning she woke up, her pillow was tearstained, and there were tear streaks running down her cheeks. Lily wondered if Sirius had had enough sense to stay away last night, and when she looked to her tree, she thought he had. But then she saw the door, decorated with a wreath, adorned with an impeccable white bow, with seven snowy white swans flitting in and out of the circlet. She should have known he wouldn't give up.

She wondered why it was that Sirius didn't, though. It didn't make sense, everyone knew he liked Carmella Right, heck, they were intimately acquainted. So why was he doing this for Lily? The obvious answer was that it was all a joke, but the tiny, hopeful part in her heart said, maybe, just maybe, he had only been delivering.

Lily wondered who else it could be… she had already established the fact that it could not possibly be James. A few days ago she thought she saw Amos Diggory looking rather oddly at her, but she didn't think he had enough imagination. Then the obvious hit her: It must be Sev.

Sev, whom she had been friends with nearly all her life. Sev, whom she could always count on to be there for her as a kid. Sev, her first wizard friend before Hogwarts. Sev, who she used to go on picnics with on the grounds, and laugh and play with, before he got new friends. She liked Sev, maybe she could love him. But now, she didn't know if he existed any more. She thought of Severus, the mean boy with the death eater friends, who called her a mudblood. Severus, who cursed James, who could have killed him. Severus, who kissed Lily against her will. That was the Severus she didn't like. The Severus that worked for Lord Voldemort.

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A/N- Yay! Eighth chapter up!

Thanks to my reviewers: BetterOrWorse and Mysterious Victoria! I added those last two paragraphs for mv, because she was curious as to whom Lily suspected. I think they make a great addition to the story so thanks, mv!

hey guys, I'm a little stuck... I need to know what you all want to know. I already know what the gift is going to be, but I'd still be happy to get suggestions. The quicker you tell me what you need/want/expect from me the sooner I can have the next chapter up.

Anybody have any suggestions? Faults with my story? Praises? Anybody out there? If you are reading this and you haven't died yet, review!!!!!

~LU


	9. The Eighth Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own anything I didn't come up with myself. Does that make sense?

This chapter is dedicated to feeling5, for their confidence in me. I also love all my reviewers, there were five this time, (woot!): Mysterious Victoria (by the way she has a fabulous new story, and I suggest you check it out!), Twilight 4Evr/ gotta luv Jasper, Merino649, feeling5, and x_Clare_x! you guys rock! Most of you seem to be mad at Severus, and this chapter might make you a little more angry at him. You might hate him at the end of the story, but I think it makes for a good plot, so please don't eat me! :(

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. It was the hardest chapter to brainstorm, but once I had an idea it practically wrote itself! It appears that I won't be able to finish this story by Christmas (it came so fast!) so sorry 'bout that, especially to Rino. I hope you will still enjoy the story anyway. If you want to you can just read it next year! (but I still will expect reviews in 2009!). I hope you stick with the story, though, because I'm not giving up on it, so neither should any of you! It will be worth it!

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_**On the Eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

Lily woke up on the eighth morning to find a snow globe beneath her tree. It had eight dairy cows lined up head to tail in a heart formation, surrounding the red words: I still love you, which shown through the falling snow. It was a wizard's snow globe, so it never stopped snowing. It was a magical sight, but Lily was still too mad at Severus to appreciate it.

Lily still wasn't sure that Mr. Mysterious was Severus, but it seemed to be the most logical explanation. There were only a few problems with it:

First, it was Sirius that Lily had caught, supposedly delivering the gift. The day that Sirius did something for Severus was the day that pigs fly. That posed another question: if Sirius wasn't actually delivering the gift, what was he doing? If he was, why was he doing it for Snape? If Snape wasn't the mysterious gift-giver, who was? And, of course, the most logical explanation, which Lily didn't like to think about, was that it was all a joke. There was also the option of Amos Diggory, who Lily didn't like to think of either.

Second, how had Severus gotten in the dormitory? Lily supposed he must have flown, or bullied a first year into giving him the passwords. She also knew he was gifted in legillimens, so he could probably have found the password in someone else's head.

All these puzzled thoughts floated around in Lily's head as she walked down to breakfast, pretending to listen to Robbin's idle chatter about a dream she had been having. It wasn't very easy to pay attention to, as she was going on about she and Remus riding a kiddy bike with training wheels, escaping evil square dancers that had chopped down the several acres of wildflowers in Robbin's pool to make a large paper mache igloo, which they were going to trap her fish in once it grew legs*. Lily was so lost in the confusing dream and her own baffling thoughts that she forgot to watch where she was going. The result was that she ran into something very tall and solid.

Lily looked up to see the hazel eyes of James Potter, surprisingly cold and hard as he pushed her away. "Watch where you're going, Lily."

"Sorry," said Lily. She was perplexed by the coldness of his voice, and the way he looked at her, as if he was a puppy that had just had its tail trodden on. She brushed past him and hurried to sit next to Robbin. Unfortunately, she had chosen a seat across from Sirius. Robbin was usually a good friend and all, but she had a bad habit of doing things that really annoyed Lily sometimes. She didn't want to sit with Dorcas and her friends, though, so she took her seat rather huffily on the right side of Robbin. Lily was assuming that James would sit across from her, and it shocked her so much when he chose the seat on the other side of Robbin that she almost fell off her chair. No-one present could remember a time when James Potter had refused a perfectly open opportunity to flirt with Lily, excluding that time on the sofa.

What shocked Lily even more was that she did not feel relieved. She tried to re-assure herself by saying in her head _calm down, Lily, he just didn't see you. If he did see you he would not be sitting next to Robbin. He does NOT like Robbin! He can't!_ Rather disturbed by those last few thoughts, she shook her head a few times and decided to let James know she was sitting there. Swallowing her bite of blueberry muffin, she cleared her throat loudly and said the first thing that popped into her head:

"The weathers nice today," Was this Lily Evans, attempting to flirt by commenting on the weather? Robbin gave her an odd look. Sirius gulped some pumpkin juice then said,

"Great weather for a snowball fight, maybe."

Lily hadn't even looked at the sky, now she realized that the illusional ceiling couldn't be seen through because of the downpour of snow: A blizzard. She could feel her blush coming on.

"No, thanks," responded Lily, "Umm, I'm going to just go to the library after breakfast, I think."

James muttered something incoherent under his breath, and Lily caught her name.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You're excused," said Sirius, motioning to the door. Lily bristled.

"What did you say about me?" she directed this question toward James.

"I asked if you were off to go snog Snivellous again!" responded an angry James. Lily was shocked, now she knew who had seen that disgusting bit of making out that Severus had forced her into. James got up and stormed away; Lily hastened to follow.

"It's not what you think!" shouted Lily at the entrance hall, unable to catch James as he sped up the stairs.

James whipped around, "Then what is it?"

"I would never go out with Severus!" said Lily, that was true. She liked Sev, not Severus, there was a difference. And Sev didn't exist anymore, so it was time she moved on. "He kissed me AGAINST MY WILL!"

"It looked pretty intentional to me!" thundered James.

"I don't care what it looked like to you!" Lily shouted, "I don't like Severus!"

"Why are you telling me? Why do I care?" asked James.

"Because you like me!" said an exasperated Lily, "Don't you?"

"I've decided it's about time I moved on," said James, "I could never go out with anyone who kissed _Snivellous!"_

And he stormed off, leaving Lily on the staircase.

0o0

"Lily?" questioned Robbin, rubbing a sobbing Lily's back. "Are you okay?"

"No!" said Lily, burying her face in her pillow. They were in the dormitory together, a sobbing Lily lying on her bed as a comforting but confused Robbin consoled her.

"Please tell me what's wrong, Lily," pleaded Robbin. She hadn't witnessed the scene between Lily and James, she had simply come to the dorm and found Lily coming to pieces on her bed.

"James… said… he doesn't… LIKE ME!!!" she cried.

"But… but I thought…" said an even more confused Robbin, "I thought you _hated _James."

"Do I really do such a good job at fooling everyone?" asked Lily, "I used to, but… after a few years, you know- I… I suppose I've been crushing on him all year, just when he seems to have given up. If he would have asked me out I would have said yes, but he hasn't. Not once. All year. Now that he isn't constantly bugging me, I can see how _hot_ he is, and strong and-" she began to cry harder, "I could have had him! He's so brave and smart, and he liked me, and now he doesn't! And now that I don't like Severus, he likes me! My life is a horrible mess, Robbin! What can I do?"

"Just tell James," urged Robbin.

"I can't, I couldn't suffer the embarrassment of being turned down!" yelped Lily.

"He's done it an awful lot for you," nudged Robbin, "You don't have to do it right away. Just tell him before Christmas. He has a right to know, and if you don't tell him… well, he's not going to wait around forever."

"I think he's already given up," said Lily. And she began to cry once more. But Robbin had convinced her: she had to tell James. But she wasn't sure that she could do it before Christmas, that was only four days away.

0o0

Meanwhile, James and Sirius were having a similar discussion. James wasn't crying, but Sirius thought it would be better if he was, the cold, dead, depressed look on his face was quite disturbing him.

"I've finally moved on," announced James.

"Come on, Prongs, just hold out for a little bit longer. I really do think she likes you!"

"You've been telling me that all year. And all year I've sat back and watched her relationship with Snivellous grow even more."

"Maybe Snivellous did force her into it," suggested Sirius.

"Doubt it."

"Look, mate, you didn't see her expression when you sat down next to Robbin. That was pure jealousy."

"She was probably just upset that she couldn't sit by Snivellous."

"You're pathetic! All these years you haven't given up when we told you you should have, and now that I tell you she likes you, that you shouldn't give up, you do!"

James had no remark to that comment.

"Just give her until Christmas, mate. Those gifts you've been giving her have to make her like you."

"Well," compromised James, "I'll wait until Christmas. Not a day longer. But I will not tell her it's me that has been giving her all that stuff. Especially after that sappy cow thing I gave her last night."

"That's all I'm asking," said Sirius.

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A/N- There's the ninth chapter! Review if you want the tenth!


	10. The Ninth Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own anything you recognize, kay?

This chapter is dedicated to kt130, for loving my story! :)

You may want to torture/murder/do something worse to Severus after reading this chapter. To all Severus lovers reading this story: sorry for making you hate him.

That was your warning. Don't complain to me if you buy a poster of Snape just so you can burn it after this. xD By the way, playing with fire is not a good idea!

That said, read and review!

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_**On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

Sirius had convinced James to not give up on his ingenious gift idea, but James had only agreed to give gifts that were not so romantic and sappy. He ended up traveling to the dormitory with a tree skirt (a cloth used to hide the base of the tree and keep the presents from touching the ground) that had beautiful girls (with red hair and green eyes, although he could not duplicate Lily's beauty) dancing around it in intricate patterns. After positioning it around the tree and replacing each gift on top of it, he ogled for only a few minutes at the sleeping Lily, before heading back to his own room.

0o0

Lily was intrigued by the tree skirt once she noticed it in the morning. The magically moving dancers as they flitted throughout the cloth fascinated her, and she couldn't help but notice the likenesses to herself, which flattered her, although she thought they were much prettier than she. When she remembered that it was most likely Severus behind the scheme though, she lost interest in watching the figures dance and set out for breakfast alone, not bothering to wake up the slumbering Robbin.

She decided to take the long way to breakfast, not eager to see James or Severus again. She was wandering aimlessly near the Divination wing, when she ran into Severus and a gang of his friends.

"There you are, Lily," said Severus. Lily glared at him.

"Stay away from me," she warned. She reached into her robes for her wand, but realized she had left it back in Gryffindor tower. This made her very nervous, in a situation like this, surrounded by dangerous death eaters.

"Ooh," remarked a boy called Theodore Nott, "She's a feisty one!"

Severus smirked, "No need to be frightened, I just had a question to ask you," he taunted, stepping forward slightly, and he tottered a bit.

A thought had occurred to Lily, "Severus! Have you been drinking?"

"Yes, why, gunna tell the teachers?" Severus taunted, Lily didn't respond. Severus smiled gentleman like and continued, "So back to my question, I've been meaning to ask you, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"No, thank you," said Lily flatly.

"Why not?" asked Severus.

"Because I don't want to, Severus," said Lily, her voice rising an octave.

"I meant for it to be like a date," hinted Severus.

"But I don't like you in that way," countered Lily.

"I wish you to go to Hogsmeade with me," said Severus, too calm.

"I've already said I'm not coming."

"You will come to Hogsmeade with me," insisted Severus.

"I bloody won't go to Hogsmeade with you, Severus Snape! I don't like you! Get that into your head!"

"My but I do like them feisty," he remarked. Then he reached out and grabbed her so fast, she couldn't even back away, then he slammed her against the wall.

"It's that Potter's fault, isn't it?" he asked. Lily was too terrified to answer. She struggled against his grip, kicking out at him, but one of his friends lazily flicked their wand at her, and the next moment she was in a full body bind. And Severus was kissing her. She could do nothing about it, but wait for it to stop. He clutched her closer to her, beginning to slide off her outer robe, then made his way to unbuttoning her sweater. _Oh, godric, this cannot be happening to me!_ Thought Lily. And she was completely helpless. His friends were laughing, Severus had the most annoying smirk on his face when he began tugging at her shirt. Lily was thankful she had dressed in layers. He didn't stop, either, when it came to her camisole, he was just lifting it off her belly button, her slender stomach exposed. He seemed to hesitate there, however, and headed for the buttons of her jeans as his friends wolf whistled. He was just unzipping the zipper, tears were sliding down Lily's cheeks. His friends were laughing and jeering. Then someone came around the corner, Lily couldn't tell who it was, until the voice of her savior rang through the hall:

"Don't you dare touch her!"

Severus whipped around. Lily still couldn't move. James' wand was pointed at Severus' friends, and he had an extremely hateful look on his face. Then he flicked his wand, and all of them but Severus dropped, who had been the only one quick enough with a shield charm.

"You just interrupted my fun, Potter, with Lily here," said Severus, "I might just have to kill you for that."

"Not if I kill you first!" yelled James, "stupefy!"

But Severus dodged it, "She's mine, Potter! Cruscio!"

Severus' aim was true, the hall was filled with the sounds of James screams. It was terrible, as a bystander, Lily was sure Severus was going to kill him. And she could do nothing about it. But something about how loud the yells were seemed to alert Severus, and he stopped. He aimed his wand at James and began, "Adva-"

But James was quicker, "STUPIFY!" he yelled, and it hit Severus in the face. He was out. James tried not to look at Lily, with only her undershirt on and her pants down to her hips, her purple briefs showing through, as he flicked his wand at her to perform the counterjinx. Once her body was no longer rigid, her knees buckled, she fell to the ground, sobbing.

"Lily," James was by her side at once, "Did he hurt you? Lily!"

She shook her head and continued to sob. James strained to keep his eyes on her face.

"You saved me, James," said Lily, still collapsed on the floor.

"Yea, um…" said James, "I'm going to take care of the rest of them…"

"Don't kill them!"

"Fine," agreed James. "I'm just going to body bind them, tie them up, and hang them all in the room of requirement."

Lily nodded.

"Um… I'll go do that, why don't you, er, put your clothes on." At this James went off to perform his task as Lily re-dressed. By the time he got back, she was beyond embarrassed, but thankful as well.

"Er, thanks," she said.

"Yea," said James. He now believed that Snape had forced her into that kiss. Hell, he had forced her into much more than that. James didn't know how she had lived through that, if he wouldn't have come… well, he didn't want to think about that. He wanted so badly to kiss her right now, she seemed to be very warm towards him now that he had saved her, but he didn't want to be pushy, like Snape had been.

"James?" Lily asked.

"Yes?" they were now to the empty common room.

"This might sound a little weird," she warned, "but will you… you know… protect me? I mean, I'm perfectly capable, but with death eaters involved…" she trailed off.

"I will never let anything hurt you," promised James solemnly. Lily gave him a small smile, then dashed up the staircase. Robbin was still asleep, and Lily didn't feel like sharing her whole, embarrassing ordeal. She hoped James could keep the secret as well. She decided to try to just lay back down in bed and knock herself out, to get the flashbacks out of her head. However, she did have dreams, but not bad dreams… she had dreams of James Potter.

* * *

A/N- a little drastic… okay, a lot drastic. Please tell me if it was so over the top that it was unbelievable. To those of you that I just made hate Severus Snape… don't eat me if you liked him before. I'm not saying he's a bad person, he's just not all that likable in this story, because I don't really like him. :) I did make him drunk when he did this, though, so you can still like him a little (I suppose. I sure won't!)

Okay, well, thanks for reading. Please review! I promise that the next chapter will be much more… normal. But don't worry, there's still plenty more action to come! xD

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~LU


	11. The Tenth Day of Christmas

A/N- I don't own anything you recognize, how many times do I have to tell you?

This chapter is dedicated to AsItThunders, for her anticipation. She also has some very good stories, so I suggest you check them out!

Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter: AsItThunders, Merino649, feeling5, mysterious victoria, and kt130. You guys are the reason I write! :)

To AsItThunders- sorry for leaving you hanging, hope this is a soon enough update!

To Merino649- Yea, Snape can be sweet, but not when he's drunk, and a death eater.

To Feeling5- you make me smile! xD either way is good ;D I never get tired of hearing it.

To mysterious Victoria- I see your point. I was thinking of all sorts of beastly things to do to Snape as I wrote the last chapter. :) But you should like this chapter. It's my favorite! (so far)

To kt130- thanks, I had a sweet Christmas, except I couldn't eat toffee because I recently had my braces tightened. :(

* * *

_**On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

James had wanted to go back to the room of requirement, and finish off those _gits,_ but Sirius convinced him not to. He had only done this by saying they would have a nice, drawn out death now, as opposed to a quick one, and James then wouldn't become a murderer. James agreed reluctantly.

It was at one o'clock when he flew to Lily's dorm. Robbin was fast asleep, as was Lily, with her wand in her hand. James had the suspicion that she had had to stun herself to get to sleep, and he felt an alarming surge of hatred toward Snape, who had dared to violate Lily. His fingers flexed, as if he was itching to wrap them around Severus' throat and strangle him, but he mustn't do that. He closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then he got to work on the gift.

He had brought his wand along with him, so he could add the gentlemen to the tree skirt to dance with the ladies. It took him several minutes, but in the end, there were ten men with nine ladies swirling and twirling, waltzing around the Christmas tree. He had made sure that the men did not resemble himself in any way, shape, or form, so he wouldn't give himself away.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard Lily mumble 'James.' Knowing he'd been caught, he turned around, thinking up wild cover up stories, but found Lily still fast asleep. He looked over to Robbin, who was also slumbering deeply. Then he heard it again, 'James.' Lily had spoken his name, in her sleep. James smiled, maybe Sirius was right after all.

0o0

Lily woke up early the next morning, feeling genuinely rested. She hoped Severus had stayed away last night, and when she first looked at her tree she thought he had, but no, she noticed the 'ten lords a-leaping' imprinted on the tree wrap. Then a new thought occurred to her: Severus was still tied in the room of requirement, so it couldn't be him. A small spark of hope flared in her, because she knew who she wanted it to be. She also knew that was almost impossible, and yet… all her logical reasoning seemed to drift away as she imagined him coming to her dorm every night, he didn't need a password. She remembered the night that he had been in the hospital Sirius had delivered it. Sirius was James best mate, it made sense that that's who he would rely on. Lily was upset at herself, though, for getting carried away. She had hoped without giving herself permission to hope; but she couldn't help hoping just the same.

0o0

Lily came down to the common room early, she didn't want to go down to breakfast by herself again, so she intended to wait for James, but he was already there.

"Hi, Lily," said James, "I was just going to wait for you to come down, I don't really want you to go to breakfast yourself…" he trailed off.

"I was about to do the same," said Lily, smiling. James was pleased that she seemed to have bounced back well. He wondered if he would be crossing lines to take her hand as he walked down, but decided against it. He didn't want to be pushy like Snivellous, he decided it best for her to lead. He was upset at himself for the way he was thinking; he was her bodyguard, not her boyfriend!

They started walking in silence, strolling rather awkwardly six inches between each other. They both felt the impulse to grab the other's hand, but thought it may be too sudden. So they walked in silence for a ways.

"So, bodyguard," said Lily jokingly, "We might as well get to know each other, seeing as we'll be spending a lot of time together."

"We will?" asked James, trying to hide his excitement.

"Well, if that's okay with you," said Lily quickly.

"Great! I mean, yea, it's cool with me," said James casually.

"Cool," said Lily. These two people had to be the most inept flirters that Hogwarts had ever seen. "Well, um, what's your favorite music?"

"Well," pondered James, "I like 'The Lost Wand' and 'Black Magic,' those are my favorite bands. I guess I don't really like music that much, though."

"Me neither," smiled Lily. They continued to quiz each other for the remainder of the day, laughing at similar traits, describing their favorite foods. They found themselves telling each other things they had never told anyone else, and felt as if the other really understood them. It was evening, just after dinner, when Lily asked a more serious question.

"This has been really fun, today," she said, "And tomorrow, well, it's Christmas Eve, so we'll all be going to Hogsmeade. I was wondering, if, well… do you want to go with me?"

"Of course," said James, thinking she meant as her bodyguard, "I told you I'd stick around, you know, protect you, until you get tired of me."

"James," she said, catching his attention because she hadn't called him 'Potter.' "I meant as… well… as a date."

"You want me to go on a date with you?" asked James, looking like he'd just been hit over the head with a saucepan

"Well, yea, but if you don't want to go, you don't have to-" she said quickly, trying to hold back her tears.

"No, Lily, are you kidding? I've been waiting to go on a date with you since first year! Of course I will!"

"Sweet," said Lily, and she grasped his hand. James was in heaven.

0o0

Sirius was in good spirits as he walked down to the room of requirement. He was eager to see if any of the Slytherins had died yet. Strolling into the room, he lifted his head to the ceiling. There, where the death eaters should have been, was an empty harness. Sirius ran to warn James.

* * *

A/N- dundundun… cliffie! Review if you want the next chapter up today!


	12. The Eleventh Day of Christmas

A/N- I only own the plot and OC characters.

This chapter is dedicated to ICantRemberSodAll, for her amazing compliment to me (Thank you thank you thank you!)

Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter: AsItThunders, x-Clare-x, GeeWiz3, and ICantRemberSodAll! I love you all!

And here is the twelfth chapter… enjoy!

* * *

_**On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me: eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

James and Lily walked hand in hand through the corridors, both completely content, well, beyond content: exuberant. Neither could stop smiling. They were nearly to the common room when Sirius came barreling around the corner. He ran right up to them, then screeched to a halt, clutching a stitch in his side as he gasped for breath to tell James. Both Lily and James were completely nonpulsed at the expression on Sirius face. Sirius was still trying to catch his breath when he spotted their linked hands and asked, "are… you two… together?"

James smiled and nodded, Sirius' grin shown like a beacon, for just a moment, before it was wiped off his face by his grave news.

"James, the Slytherins… and Snape, they've escaped!"

"What?!" asked James in gaping disbelief, "How? When? They couldn't have!"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Lily, taking the logical approach, "what matters is how we're going to deal with this."

"What? We?" asked James, "Oh, no Lily! You can't be involved in this, Sirius and I can handle this."

"I am even more involved in it than you are," said Lily, "and unless you want me to call you Potter again, Potter, I suggest you let me fight the death eaters with you. They've done a lot worse things than what they've done to me."

James seemed to be suffering an internal struggle. Finally he said, "So… you'll call me James?" Lily confirmed this by nodding, "Well, you do have a point… I guess you can help with the planning."

Lily shrugged, she knew she'd get James to do whatever she wanted for her. Sirius nudged in, "but what are we going to do. You really can't kill them, James, you'd get kicked out!"

"Do you think I care?" asked James fiercely, "After what they did, they deserve to rot in hell!"

"Undoubtedly they will," said Lily, trying to calm James down, "but you have to think about our future. You can't do that, I refuse to let you kill them."

James could tell she wasn't budging on this point, "okay," he agreed. He liked the way she had said 'our' future, as if it was already guaranteed that they would be together.

"But what _are_ we going to do?" asked Sirius once more.

The three were at a loss of words for a moment, then Lily said, "Why don't we just wait for them to act first, then, if we are dueling, they can't kick us out, it was self defense."

"She has a good point," agreed James, glad that this plan did not involve Lily dueling death eaters.

"What?" asked Sirius, "Marauders don't just sit around!"

"Don't worry," assured Lily, "When word gets out about James and I, I don't think we'll have to wait very long."

James draped his arm around her shoulder protectively.

0o0

Lily woke the next morning to a ruckus. There were eleven little toy men with hooks protruding from their heads marching around the base of the little tree. They all had little golden flutes held up to their mouths and were piping "The Twelve Days of Christmas" merrily. On their backs were strapped large red hearts that complemented their green suits. Lily smiled and got dressed, hoping against hope that it was James who had sent her that.

Lily came down the staircase dressed in a tight, green satin dress that came just below her mid thigh with a square neckline. She also wore gold textured tights and green flats. She was accessorizing with her bracelet she had gotten for the sixth day of Christmas. She hoped she hadn't dressed too over the top for her date with James, they would be leaving for Hogsmeade shortly after breakfast. She was relieved to find girls in the common room dressed in similar fashion, Christmas Eve came but once a year, after all.

Lily had her wand stuck in a fold of her dress, just to be safe.

"Hey, gorgeous," said James. Lily smiled shyly and took the hand he offered her. They exited the common room amidst the whispers of the whole of Gryffindor house.

0o0

Breakfast was a rather awkward affair. James tried to remember all the manners his mother had taught him, and Lily tried to eat daintily. They were glad when it was over and they were out on the snowy grounds, bundled up cozily.

The walk to Hogsmeade was fairly uneventful. Lily didn't see any of the death eaters, and she relaxed into James arm. Once they got to Hogsmeade, James asked where Lily wanted to go, unsure where couples went, as he had never had a real girlfriend before.

"Well," said Lily, "lots of couples go into Madam Puddifoots…" James eyed the frilly restaurant warily, and Lily smiled and continued, "But I don't really like it. Let's go to the three broomsticks."

James seemed very relieved at her plan, so together they made their way into the crowded pub. They sat down at one of the more private tables in the back and waited as the waitress, Rio, came to take their orders.

"I'll just have a butterbeer," said Lily, as the waitress scrawled their order in her booklet.

"Firewhisky for me," ordered James. Lily gave him a stern look, and he amended, "actually, I think I'll have a butterbeer as well."

"Suite yourself," said Rio. A few minutes later she came back carrying their drinks. Lily took a sip of hers and said,

"I'm really happy to be here with you."

"Me, too," said James, "You don't know how long I've waited."

Lily smiled a sad smile and said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said James, "Time seems to have made the final product sweeter."

They were slowly leaning towards each other across the little table; not taking their eyes away from each other as they leaned in.

"Do you think it would have been better, if we wouldn't have waited?" asked Lily.

"Let's not wait any longer," said James, they were slowly closing the space between them. James put one warm hand on her neck, and Lily's spine tingled in anticipation. They were inches apart, and then-

"Enjoying the moment, Potter?" asked a nasally voice which belonged to a hook nosed, greasy haired Slytherin whom the Marauders liked to refer to as 'that git,' otherwise known as Snivellous.

"I rather am, actually," replied James, not straitening up, but looking at Snape. Severus' eyes flickered to Lily.

"I actually came to apologize to Lily," said Snape, "If you could give me a moment alone with her."

"Not a chance," snarled James, "It's a little too late for that."

"Why, already done the job for me?" asked Snape. It took a few moments for Lily to realize what they were talking about, and by the time she did, her face was crimson; and James had let go of her and was in Snape's face at once.

"You want to go?" asked James fiercely.

"Yeah," replied Snape, "Let's take this outside!"

They strode outside, and Lily hastened to follow. Sirius noticed what was going on, and followed them out the door, with Carmella at his heels.

Snape had led James and the others out into an alley. James and Snape now stood, wands raised, hurling silent curses at each other so fast, it was hard for the others to keep track. Finally, he managed to disarm James, and took off running toward the Shrieking Shack. James grabbed his wand and followed, and the others pursued him. They were out on the back roads now, James hurling curses at Snivellous' retreating back. Snape led them to the middle of a square, then turned abruptly.

"You know how foolish that was," said James, "There's no-one to save your neck out here!"

"See, that's where you're wrong," said Snape. As he said this, a circle of masked and hooded death eaters surrounded them, closing in. Lily, Sirius, and Carmella whipped out their wands, as did their foes.

"You see," said one of the hooded lot, "It's too bad so many must die for the mistakes of a silly girl. All we were sent to do was kill was James. Ah, well, it will be good practice. Kill them all."

Lily, James, Carmella, and Sirius were fighting about four at a time, dueling for their lives. Carmella was the first to fall, hit by a curse in the chest. Sirius angrily killed the death eater responsible, but Carmella was only stunned.

The others were faring better. Lily had stunned two death eaters, James three. Sirius managed to demobilize three with a single curse, then turned around and stunned one. All in all, they were handling the situation fairly well, but they needed backup. Then Severus pulled a wild card by using Sectumsempra again. He missed James and hit Lily, slashing her waist.

"Lily!" yelled James, as he took advantage of Severus' averted attention and stunned him. He ran through the bodies to see if she was okay. She was losing a lot of blood, but still dueling.

"Get back to fighting, James," as she knocked out yet another death eater. James obeyed, but kept an eye on her. He could tell it was causing her great pain to continue, and the quantity of her blood was shocking against her green dress.

And then one of the death eaters used a curse which they had no knowledge. They all fell, death eaters and heroes alike.

* * *

A/N- dundundun… do you all like my cliffies? Hehehe I know I'm mean like that. I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow, unless I don't get enough reviews. I could leave you all hanging… hehe would I be that evil? Review unless you want to find out just how wicked I can be!

:) but I still love you all so don't take that the wrong way :)

LU


	13. The Twelfth Day of Christmas

A/N- I am not mental, therefore, I do not think myself to be the great JKR. :)

This chapter is dedicated to Seth's Imprint for her encouragement and praise! :) (by the way I wish I was Seth Clearwater's imprint he's so cute!)

Sob, last chapter! But it's not completely over, there may be an epilogue! Yay!

And thanks for all the reviews, guys! Seven! I did a little dance when I saw! (and I'm not a very good dancer… used to be in ballet… yea I'm WAY too klutzy for that) :) I love you all: AsItThunders, Seth's Imprint, Merino649, x-Clare-x, ICantRemberSodAll, mysterious victoria, and feeling5!

* * *

_**On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.**_

James awoke very sore on the cold, hard ground. He sat up stiffly, and looked around him. He was in Hogsmeade, the sun was setting. The death eaters must have left, for around him were only the three bodies of Lily, Sirius and Carmella. At the sight of Lily's lifeless body James leapt up and ran to her. "Oh, please don't be dead!" he prayed, kneeling over Lily.

For a moment, he thought she was. Her hand was cold and lifeless, but he could feel a faint pulse. He almost cried with relief. "Lily!" he shouted, "Lily, wake up!"

Lily didn't respond. James was afraid that it was too late, that the wound in her side had lost too much blood. He wasn't very good at healing, but he decided that her life depended on it, that he needed to heal it now, or risk her death. Carefully, he chanted the healing spell over the wound. It began to knit together, until it left only a mangled scar imprinted in her side. James siphoned the blood from her ruined dress, then decided he had done all he could for her. He turned to Sirius.

Sirius was lying spread eagled on the ground, eyes shut tight, but his breathing was obvious. "Padfoot!" cried James, to no effect. He poured a stream of water over his face by muttering "aguamenti."

This woke Sirius up. He blinked his eyes and looked around him, realization dawning on his face, "They've gone and done a runner, haven't they?" asked Sirius.

"It appears so," said James, "Come on, let's get out of here, they might come back."

"Alright," said Sirius, turning to Carmella, "I don't know why she followed me," he said, referring to Carmella, "She sucks at dueling."

"I don't know either," said James, "But you should keep her. She's brave, I like her."

"Me, too," smiled Sirius, before turning to Carmella and leaning down to wake her up, prince charming style. James preferred not to look, so he turned back to Lily.

She was pale, and appeared nearly dead, but her beauty still took James breath away. He considered waking her up with a kiss as Sirius was doing to Carmella, but he wasn't sure that she'd appreciate that. Instead, he reluctantly roused her the same way he'd done Sirius.

Lily's eyes fluttered at the touch of the cold water on her skin. She looked up to see James staring down at her, "Wha-" she asked, before leaping to her feet, which made her light headed, and she fainted into James arms. Her eyes flickered open again, "Oh, I'm useless." She mumbled, "Where's the death eaters?"

"They're gone," said James. "I don't know why they left like that, it makes no sense. I bet they're going to come back, we should go." Behind him he could hear the sounds of Sirius pulling Carmella to her feet.

"Yea," agreed Lily. She shrugged out of James arms and tottered a few feet before falling again, once more James caught her.

"What the hell did the death eaters do to me?" asked Lily.

"Well, you kind of have a gash on your side," said James, "I think you lost a lot of blood."

"Oh," said Lily, looking down and blushing.

"Want me to carry you back?" asked James seriously.

"I am perfectly capable," said Lily.

"Lily…" said James.

"Potter…" said Lily.

"Hey!" yelped James, "You promised."

"I suppose I did," allowed Lily, "James, then."

"Yes," smiled James, looking down at her, placing one arm at her waist and still supporting her with the other.

"You may not carry me back," said Lily firmly.

"Why not?" James smirked down at her.

"Because I can walk back on my own," explained Lily.

"You know you can't," said James, "As you're bodyguard, it is my duty to protect you. And you trying to walk back on your own poses a danger to yourself."

"And you could prevent that threat?" asked Lily.

"It would be my pleasure to," said James.

"In that case," said Lily, "I suppose you could _assist _me to the castle because and only because I hold you responsible for my safety." James grinned and lifted her bridal-style, carrying her to the castle, with Sirius and Carmella trailing them.

0o0

Lily intended to stay up throughout the night: it was the very last day of Christmas, Christmas Eve, and she was determined to find out who the mysterious gift-giver was.

Robbin drifted off around eleven, and Lily's emerald eyes began to sag. She pulled out a bar of Honeydukes' best chocolate and began to munch, knowing the caffeine would keep her awake.

It was one thirty when she finally heard a scraping at her window. She hurriedly dived under her sheets and buried her face in the pillow, eager to get the best view of her admirer by waiting to peek at him until he was at her tree. There was a scuffle, and she heard a body drop into her room and shut the window quietly. She heard footfalls make their way slowly across her room. Then she flipped around and sat up.

James' head swung back to look at her so fast it was remarkable that he didn't get a crick in his neck. His face turned brick red faster than a traffic light. For once he was at a loss of words.

"You?" asked Lily, she didn't see how she hadn't seen it before. Looking at it logically now, all the pieces seemed to fit.

"Erm, yes…" said James, still bright red.

"Come over here," commanded Lily. James was afraid she was going to slap or jinx him, but he reluctantly obeyed. "Closer!"

James inched forward, frightened of the consequences.

"I just wanted to say… thanks," said Lily, and she kissed him.

James was shocked, he looked at her, dazed. Then he cupped his hand on the back of her neck, the other in her flaming hair, and kissed her. She clung to him and didn't let go, even when their breathing became ragged. All too soon, they broke apart.

"I need to be heading back," said James.

"No!" pleaded Lily, "stay!"

"Okay," agreed James, not needing persuading. They stayed up and kissed… er… talked all night.

* * *

A/N- that's that. In your reviews be sure to tell me if you'd like an epilogue. (I have an idea for it… remember, she still hasn't found the ring! ;))

Thanks to everyone who has read this far!

LU

Oh, and by the way, the gift was twelve drummers drumming, suited in a similar fashion as the eleven pipers piping… except twelve… with drums. :)


	14. Epilogue

A/N- The very last chapter. )`:

The plot alone is mine.

This chapter is dedicated to: emma dov, TayliaNinja, B3lla, Hermione Granger 1971, WantinRowdyDreams, Venus, ImNotWithHC, Harriet Fields, BetterOrWorse, kt130, GeeWiz3, Seth's Imprint, mysterious Victoria, feeling5, AsItThunders, ISolmelySwearThatIAmUpToNoGood, Twilight 4Evr, Merino649, x-Clare-x, ICantRemberSodAll, and FishPonys Rock; because you reviewed. I can't thank you guys enough for that. 3

It is also dedicated to S. Z. Scribbler, TVluvr4life, xXILOVEMAMATESXx, Alcapacien, Raelena, and bassbrat; because you have me on alerts or favorites, even though you never reviewed. :D

And this story is also dedicated to anyone who is even reading this, because you've read this far, and my readers (and reviewers) mean the world to me! :)

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**Epilogue-**

James and Lily were returning to the dormitory from dinner late that Christmas night, when they found their path blocked by Severus. James clutched Lily to his side in a very protective manner, which Severus did not miss.

"Lily," he said, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I had no idea…"

"What sort of friends you'd chosen? That they'd try to kill me?" she asked, "Save your breath, I'm rather in a hurry and don't have time for useless apologies.

"Really?" asked Severus, "Am I too late?"

"For what?" asked James, "If you don't let us through you'll be late, and by that I mean dead."

Snape ignored him, "Lily, I've been meaning to tell you this: You don't have to settle for Potter. I love you."

Lily looked shocked. Severus looked anxious that she might pick James. James looked worried that she may pick Severus, but he let her choose. At last, she spoke her words carefully and deliberately, "Severus, you're a bit too late. My heart already belongs to someone else, and that is James."

Severus nodded, then turned on his heel and stalked dejectedly away. Lily and James continued rather awkwardly.

"Your heart belongs to me?" asked James.

Lily blushed, and said in a very small voice, "Yea."

James tilted her chin up, and looked into her eyes, "mine has belonged to you since the day I met you." He said very seriously, then gently kissed her.

0o0

They were back up in the dorm, Lily teasing James about his romantic gifts, which she loved, when a thought suddenly occurred to her. "James, what was up with the fat little Santa for the fifth day?"

"Well, you know, it made a good carrier," said James. He looked at Lily's face, and realized she had no idea what he was talking about, "you didn't find it?"

"Find what?" asked Lily. James reached over and grabbed the ornament, twisting him at his belt until the top popped off. Inside was a golden ring with five coils and five emeralds set into it. Lily gasped.

"Oh, James, it's beautiful," said Lily, "but, honestly, you didn't need to do anything for me?"

"Do you like it?" asked James, sliding it onto her ring finger.

"Immensely," replied Lily, gesturing to the gifts, "all of them."

"Then they were worth it," said James, "I made most of them anyway."

"You… made… them?" asked Lily, "you are without doubt the most tasteful and romantic man I have ever met!"

"mm-hmm," said James, already kissing her. Her hands wrapped around him, the glittering gold ring sparkling in his jet black hair.

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A/N- Alas, all good things must come to an end, but endings always call for new beginnings. I will have a Rose/Scorpius songfic up to wish you a happy new year 2009! If you are interested, feel free to check it out and any of my or my co-writer TRK's writings! Thanks, wishing you all a Merry Christmas with this slightly belated gift! Any reviews I would appreciate… immensely, as Lily would say.

LU :D


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